Lock n load

Again, it has been another busy day. Because I moved house a month or so back, I had to change the details on my drivers license and my registration documents. I'd tried to do that before, at the local DMV office but they couldn't do it because I was still recorded as being a non US citizen. I had to go to a special office, 45 minutes away. Well, I got there and they duly changed me over to being a US citizen and changed my license and registration details. I got a swanky new license with a photo that makes me look like a deranged serial killer. Then came the painful bit - the fee was now $25 up from $10 the last time.

I might have been a bit more relaxed had South Carolina's finest been attending to speeding motorists. There I was, puttering along at 45mph (the speed limit) thinking about changing lanes in a mile or so in order to get ready for a left turn when I heard the roar of a straining engine. There was a swoosh and a sports car shot past me with its engine literally screaming. A second later, another sports car screamed past. Both had to have been doing well over 100mph. Needless to say there was no police car anywhere near. Given that the road across the dam has very limited visibility and room for maneuver, had anybody changed lanes or been in that lane, there would have been fatalities. And South Carolina's finest - nowhere to be seen!

Having got the documentation done, I headed to Irmo Lock Company who sold me the two locks for the side and rear doors of the bus and had the one planned for the side rekeyed so that both locks take the same key. It reduces the number of keys I need to carry!

Then I headed home and used the new hole saw I bought the other day to finish cutting the hole for the lock. Well, the old hole saw had messed up because it was blunt and the hole hadn't gone quite right. Still, the inner hole isn't that important. I trimmed it with my angle grinder. Then I cut the outer hole.

Fortunately, the hole went into precisely the right place and the lock fitted perfectly. I had to trim the lock bar - its marked in 1/4 inch lengths ready for trimming. The last one I trimmed with my saw. This time I did it with my angle grinder.

And the final result - a working side door lock. Now I can open both doors from the outside. Of course, the big thing is getting a way of unlocking the front door. That's somewhat harder!

The front door has a sprung latch that locks the door very well. It just can't be opened from outside. My idea is to put a solenoid that will raise the latch, operated by a key. The solenoid is something I'll have to make myself. The key lock might as well be a motorbike key lock since they're weather resistant.

About the only other thing I did was to add a latch and a handle to the bedroom door I hung yesterday. The door has warped which is annoying but not that much of a bother. I still need to put a stop behind the door but here's the door. With a stop, no light will shine through.

Inside the bus was 105F (40.5C) so sweat was pouring off my brow, working. It was while I was working that I received a dinner invitation. Of course that had to be rescheduled as there was no way I could be ready in such short order. My lady couldn't have managed it either. The bus ius getting loaded with locks now!

Thoughts on alternative cooling

Yesterday, as I worked, hanging the bedroom door, sweat was dripping off me. That had me thinking more about cooling systems. Now, as you probably know, there are two main types of cooling system in use in the USA. The first is the ubiquitous air conditioning unit. These have been around since the 1930s.

An air conditioning unit works exactly the same way as a fridge or freezer works. Essentially there's a huge loop of aluminum tubing with a pump that pumps a refrigerant gas around the loop. On the far side of the loop from the pump, the tube has a constriction that allows only a small amount of gas through. This has the effect of creating high pressure on one side and low pressure on the other. A compressed gas emits heat while an expanded gas absorbs heat. You can see where this is going! The tube section with expanded gas runs into the fridge\freezer and the tube section with compressed gas is behind the unit. All this pumping to pressure uses a lot of electricity.

The second type of cooling system is known as a swamp cooler. Effectively, its hanging a wet towel in front of as fan that's blowing on you. That works because as water evaporates, it takes heat away, leaving the remaining water cool.

In a humid climate such as South Carolina, a swamp cooler is less effective however I have come up with a work around to that issue and to the fact that swamp coolers add water to the air.

My solution is to pass aluminum tubes through a water container. Water is allowed to evaporate as normal, keeping the body of the water cool. Air is passed through the tubes and of course the water absorbs the heat of the air. The air coming out is cooler.

This won't be as cool as a compression air conditioner and does need several things. It needs to be filled regularly with water, it needs to be kept out of sunlight and it needs electricity though not as much as a compression unit.

This is what I intend to build for the bus, when I get into the electrics. The other thing is an extraction fan to remove hot air from the bus.

Other than thinking about cooling, all I've done is to visit Lowes and Home Depot for more supplies and to use the new hole saw to cut through the first skin of the side door in preparation to install my second lock.

Another thing I did was to start investigating a new shower base. The base I bought for $40 from the dodgy guy advertising on Facebook looked OK when I bought it but has since developed lots of cracks. Clearly it was cheap because it was trash that I'm now going to have to find some way of disposing of. This happens every time I buy used stuff. It either needs far more work to bring it up to an acceptable standard than anticipated of its absolute trash that I end up having to take to the dump.

Thus far, it looks like Tractor Supply might have something good. Feeding troughs and concrete mixing baths look likely candidates. At 2 feet by 3 feet, they'll fit the available space nicely.

Frustrations at every turn

Today was more notable for what couldn't be achieved than for what could. Let's take a look at things that didn't happen first and why it didn't happen.

First, building new interior doors didn't happen because of the lack of 2x2.
Second, drilling the hole for the side door lock didn't happen because the hole saw is worn out.
Third, more internal carpentry didn't happen because it was 90F inside and 55% humidity.
Fourth I couldn't find a drill to insert the latch for the back door of the bedroom.

Now we've got that lot out of the way, what was achieved? And in fact, I achieved quite a few things.
First I filled a lot of holes with Great Stuff foam sealant. In fact I used up a complete tin of the stuff. After finishing that and finding I had two more empty cans, I took them into the back yard (don't panic - its the countryside) and used them for target practice and had a load of fun.
Second, I repositioned the door lock and started to drill the lock hole before finding the drill was blunt but hey, the lock plate is positioned in a far better place now.
Third, I hung the back bedroom door.
Fourth, with the aid of my girlfriend's sister's boyfriend, I managed to remove the ball from the tow hook some idiot welded to the front bumper.

My big problem is the heat. Working on the bedroom door, sweat was literally dripping off me. I'm very close to having to install ventilation. The other day I had to stop work because the heat was making me feel disorientated.

The big circle is what the hole saw failed to cut through. Looking at the saw, I see exactly why - it's totally blunt. It's designed for wood and so far has cut through 4 layers of 15 gauge steel and an inch of aluminum. Time for a new hole saw! In theory I should be using a hole saw made for cutting metal but since they're ten times the cost of one designed for cutting wood, I can afford to treat those designed for wood as disposable since I really don't have many holes to cut.

And there you can see how the teeth are all flat and have the edges turned over.

You're probably wondering why I don't just rush off to the store to buy the stuff I need. Well, the truth is that my day job has stopped for the moment so I don't have any income other than advertising clicks. After my job as a retail manager ended (the store closed), the only job I could find was after school child minding. That is part time and was the impetus that made me start building my motorhome. I realized there was no way that I was going to get a real job in South Carolina. I realized that I had to be able to job hunt outside South Carolina. The bus means I'm not tied to a rented hovel and means I could work as far away as Virginia and still get back to South Carolina at weekends to be with my girlfriend.

In view of the lack of income until school restarts in August, I'm eliminating all nonessential mileage. As I have a few things to do tomorrow, I shall combine everything in a single trip. So, now you know!

Incremental change

Today I looked at the 8x4 hardboard I bought yesterday and how it was pretty much blocking the entire dining area and decided it would be better dissected into appropriately sized portions. When I bought it, yesterday, I wanted to buy some 2x2 to go with it to make my doors. Sadly Lowes had but 5 pieces of 2x2 in stock. One was broken in two, one was bent like a banana and the others were in even worse condition. Basically, firewood.

I took the hardboard outside and marked it out whereupon thunder rolled. Spots of rain began to fall. Hurriedly I cut the hardboard and whisked it into the bus. My trusty thermometer read 64% humidity and 90F. It was very hard to work today.

My next task would have been to place extra supports under the kitchenette counter but seeing how the 2x4 I bought yesterday from Lowes was still very wet, I stuck with doing other things. I'll use the 2x4 when it has dried out a bit more. That might take a few days!

Looking at the old countertop, I decided to remove the sink. I have a single sink unit and it is quite small. Its destination will probably be the bathroom, in front of the toilet. For drinking water and washing up water, I see no problem with taking a jug of water from the bathroom to the kitchen since the kitchen is just 5 paces away from the bathroom!

Once I'd trimmed the old kitchenette countertop to fit half of the new kitchenette, I turned to the dinette. By now you'll be wondering why half a countertop. The answer is simple! Because neither of the partitions is truly 90° from the walls, its simpler to cut a counter that has a join in the middle than to cut a counter that has different angles at each end.

The dinette had all my supplies piled up on it. These were transferred to the kitchenette. Then I cut the two dividers to go under the dinette and put a sheet of OSB up as a top. That will be trimmed to fit at a later stage.

As of now, I have half a sheet of OSB remaining. Clearly a trip to Lowes is in the near future. I need more 2x2 and possibly two more sheets of OSB.

For now, here's a look at my dinette countertop. As ever, I make less progress than I'd like but the interior construction is getting closer to completion. I can't wait!

The bus shook!

Today I added 3 cross members to the kitchenette while deciding whether there should be a sink, whether the bathroom sink would be sufficient and whether the bathroom really needed a sink. Then I mused over where to put things.

The upshot was that input my 3 cross members. They will support the countertop more but crucially, they counteract the bowing of the 2x4. The sink from the old installation will be reused though I'm not sure I'll have much use for the faucet. My water plans involve water being pumped on demand via a pushbutton.

I looked into recycling the old kitchenette countertop and still have not reached a decision on that. I did think that I should build a set of drawers that's free standing that I can just slip under the counter and screw into place. That makes construction and painting that much easier.

Speaking of painting, today I put a first coat on both the bedroom doors. They look pretty good now, even without a top coat.


For the first time in a couple of weeks, I went to Lowes. I had ideas of building a front door for the cockpit - dining area doorway. To this end I got another sheet of hardboard. Its an interior door - it doesn't have to be super strong! Then I went to look for some 2x2. Oh boy! My local Lowes had half a dozen pieces left that looked more fit for firewood. Huge knots mussing from the edges and highly warped. Clearly they'd sold out!

I have some 2x4 recycled from my old kitchenette - the one that wobbled. Sadly, its not long enough for a door. It is long enough to use toward the sub partition in the bedroom which might be the next step.

Speaking of wobbly, I grabbed my kitchenette and tried to shake it vigorously. The only thing that shook was the bus. I'm happy with my construction!

Aside from putting in my countertops and under counter partitions, the kitchen\dinette is nearing completion. That will be a time for great celebration! I can't wait.

Massive but insignificant

Today was a day that started with no real plan. I had a look at the side door lock but decided to do some woodwork instead after realizing it would be easier to start again with the lock installation. For that, buying some longer self drilling screws would help and that means a trip to the store.

Looking at the place where the kitchenette will go, I had to do a lot of picking up, sweeping and general debris removal. By the time I'd taken this photo, I'd installed the two visible cross members. Getting them horizontal and level with each other wasn't easy and involved both my tape measure and my set square (as it has a spirit level) and took an age.

Having installed those members, I installed one on the other (non visible) end. Then I started with the first of the two long members. Getting that trimmed to length with the circular saw and wedging it into place so that it was horizontal, at the right level and correctly oriented took a long time. When it was mounted, it was possible to see how warped it was. Still, that will either be fixed when I wedge in some cross members or won't matter because it'll be hidden by the countertop.

The next order of the day was to fill in under the seat rail. I've been filing in under the seat rails with Styrofoam then screwing OSB into place in front of it. It just means there's one less place for critters to hide. After that, I installed the final cross member, propping one end up in the right place as below.

Having got that end in roughly the right place, I propped the other end in exactly the right place and drilled through the cross members and into the beam then inserted two very big lagging screws.

Having secured that end, I repeated the process at the other end. The end result wasn't as perfect as I'd have liked but is perfectly acceptable. The next thing I did was to lift my weight on the beam. Yes... It will support 200lbs without the central supports that it will soon acquire.

The final result is a massive change from the old kitchenette but was an insignificant amount of work. It took me all day and I got more achieved today than for positively ages but then, the bus was a little cooler. The thermometer read just 99F (38C)! It was the usual work an hour, rest indoors for half an hour, rinse and repeat.

I'm now totally out of 2x4 and probably need to get more. I'm definitely nearing the end of internal construction, even though there's stuff left to finish all along the bus. The countertops will probably be OSB on the basis that I'm going to put vinyl on top anyway.

Dismemberment and recovery!

Over the past few days I've not been able to do anything to the bus due to work commitments that have now reduced. Thus, today I set to and recommenced work.

The first order of the day was to install the final supporting member of the dinette. That went through pretty easily. Then I decided to make a temporary countertop so that I could work on the kitchen countertop. That's where things went pear shaped. Having measured and remeasured the countertop and the wood, it still came out an inch short. Not to worry - I can reuse the wood for other projects on the bus.

Having got a temporary countertop in place, the arduous task of sorting the stuff on the old kitchen countertop began. As a result, I find I have far more M5 bolts than I thought and far more brackets too.

After that, I turned to the kitchen counter. That was built solidly but the wood had dried and had began to wobble as a result. While it was screwed to the wall, it didn't notice but when it was detached, it was very noticeable.

At the time I built the kitchen counter, I knew I really wanted something solidly built in but had to throw something together to pacify the insurance agent. I'm still not sure who wasn't being straight there. The end result was I transferred all my policies out of State Farm and will never again consider being a State Farm customer.

Within a few minutes, the counter that took a week to build was totally dismantled. All of the brackets were recovered save for a couple that got bent. The next thing will be to sand the floor and complete the cross members on the two partitions. From there, I can build the two long beams for the kitchen counter. Before all that though, there's yet more garbage to sweep out. One thing is sure though - construction is nearing an end.

I looked to the sub partition in the bedroom and found a light fixture in an awkward place. This has prompted a rethink on the design. Rather than reaching the ceiling, the partition will now be shorter and possibly curved.

Good news on color matching the front partition to Carpenters body colors. Valspar has a pretty close match. I'll get more color swatches and try other colors but I'm pretty happy with what I found.

The front of the bus by the stairwell still needs something and I'm 50\50 over whether it will be a box or a closet. The rear closet needs more work too. That needs shelves, doors and plates over the windows. The bedroom needs a closet rail.

I'm getting more of a feeling of progress now, despite the heat and mosquitoes. Today I think I killed 6 as they landed on me and have been bitten a few times too - including through my jeans. These damn mosquitoes are vicious!